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Apple’s Back to School promo doesn’t add up

16 July 2026 at 15:04

Macworld

At long last, Apple finally announced its Back to School promotion, and at first glance, it seems similar to previous years. You can get a gift card valued at up to $150 for buying a new MacBook Pro, or $100 for buying a MacBook Air, iPad Pro, or iPad Air. But when you dive into the details, you’ll see just how limiting this limited-time offer really is.

First off, it’s shorter than ever. While previous sales have lasted more than three months, this year’s offer ends on August 27, just six weeks from now. So not only did it start about a month later than usual, it’s ending more than a month sooner than recent years:

  • 2026: July 16 to August 27
  • 2025: June 17 to September 30
  • 2024: June 20 to September 30
  • 2023: June 5 to October 2
  • 2022: June 24 to September 26

So students will need to make their decisions on what to buy sooner than ever, many of them before the school year begins. And they’ll also have fewer products to choose from. As expected, the MacBook Neo isn’t part of the promotion, but you also won’t find any desktop Macs. In previous years, Apple has offered iMacs and Mac minis alongside MacBooks, but not this year.

And then there’s the offer itself. After offering buyers a choice of accessories valued at up to $199, including AirPods, an Apple Pencil Pro, or a Magic Keyboard, Apple has returned to giving away gift cards this year: $150 with the purchase of a MacBook Pro, and $100 when you buy a MacBook Air, iPad Air, or iPad Pro. Not only is that less than in 2024, when buyers got $150 when purchasing a MacBook Air, but it also doesn’t take any of the recent price hikes into consideration.

That $100 gift card you’re getting on the iPad Air doesn’t even bring it down to the price it used to be before Apple raised prices by $150. MacBook Pros still cost $150 more than they did just last month, and if you’re planning to use that gift card on a HomePod or Apple TV, well, you might as well just throw your money in the trash.

Unfortunately, this promotion is still among the best “deals” you’re going to find on a MacBook or iPad. Prices on Amazon and other stores have all been adjusted to match Apple’s new prices, and we’ve yet to see much in the way of major Apple discounts yet (although we do recommend looking at the Apple Certified Refurbished Store where prices are more favorable). But remember you’re need to act fast—the clock runs out on the Back to School deal a lot earlier this year.

Meta Launches Cheaper Smart Glasses Without Ray-Ban

By: BeauHD
23 June 2026 at 18:00
Meta has launched its first smart glasses without Ray-Ban branding. Starting at $299, they're cheaper than the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 while retaining EssilorLuxottica as a design and manufacturing partner. The Verge reports: As far as style and specs, the Meta Glasses aren't that different from Ray-Bans. The internal specs are the same as the recently released Ray-Ban Meta Optics Styles, with slightly longer battery life. The Adventurer models have thinner rims, while the Fury models hew a bit closer to the Meta Ray-Ban Display with a bolder, chunkier frame. You could describe the Adventurer as square, and the Fury as even more square. The Kylie glasses sport a more unique design with a distinct Y2K flavor that I'm told is meant to be worn lower on your nose. [...] While playing around with the Meta Glasses, it was hard not to notice that the camera appears smaller than in previous Ray-Ban glasses. Technically, Himel tells me, that's not new to these Meta Glasses. It was actually introduced back in March with the prescription-optimized Optics Styles. [...] Meta is quadrupling down on AI. The new Meta Glasses will all launch with Muse Spark, the first model out of Meta's Superintelligence Labs. (It'll also be arriving on older Ray-Ban and Oakley glasses in the US and Canada via a software update.) Supposedly, that means more helpful glasses. At my hands-on, I was told that Meta AI would now be less stiff. I'd be able to talk to it more naturally and get smarter responses. The AI now supports 14 more languages, including Arabic, Japanese, Mandarin, Hindi, and Korean. Pedestrian turn-by-turn navigation is also coming to Meta's displayless glasses. Later this month, there'll be a new "dynamic photo" feature that automatically takes multiple frames and then recommends the best one.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Tecnológica saudita compra Smartmove e prepara expansão europeia a partir de Lisboa

19 June 2026 at 18:22

Com a aquisição de uma participação maioritária na portuguesa Smartmove, a Webook entra no mercado europeu com o objetivo de transformar Lisboa num centro estratégico para as suas operações.

The post Tecnológica saudita compra Smartmove e prepara expansão europeia a partir de Lisboa appeared first on Tek Notícias.

Meta Lobbies Congress For Protection From Child-Harm Lawsuits

By: BeauHD
19 June 2026 at 16:00
Longtime Slashdot reader schwit1 shares a report from Reuters: Meta has lobbied the U.S. Congress for legal immunity from child-harm claims tied to social media products such as Instagram, as it faces thousands of lawsuits from young users and their families, according to a source familiar with the matter and proposed legislative language reviewed by Reuters. If adopted by lawmakers and passed into law as part of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) under consideration in the U.S. Senate, such a provision could undermine thousands of lawsuits against Meta and other online platforms over harms to children. Meta and Google's YouTube face a combined $6 million in damages after they lost the first case at trial early this year. While legislators have given no indication of adopting the language, the lobbying effort shows the kind of legal protections Meta is seeking amid the biggest attempt to regulate online platforms in the U.S. since the 1990s. Meta has reportedly proposed the language in exchange for dropping its opposition to KOSA. Under the law, platforms would be required to mitigate harms to minors tied to features such as infinite scrolling, notifications, and appearance-altering filters.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Facebook’s new AI Mode search gets its info from public posts

15 June 2026 at 22:15
A screenshot of AI-generated search results in Meta’s AI Mode on Facebook

Your public Facebook posts could help inform AI-generated results in Meta's new AI Mode. When you search on Facebook, the "AI Mode" option will appear alongside the usual search modes like "People" and "Marketplace." It's one of several new AI features Meta is rolling out starting today, including photo presets that swap sports jerseys onto fans and suggestions for collage templates.

A screenshot of AI-generated search results in Meta's AI Mode on Facebook

Instead of "just links," it gives users AI-generated results that pull from publicly-posted content across Meta's platforms, like the AI search feature in its new Reddit-like Forum app. Users can also ask Meta's AI follow-up questions in response to the search …

Read the full story at The Verge.

UK unveils sweeping social media ban for users under 16

15 June 2026 at 15:36
The ban would apply to a range of social media platforms, including Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and X.

Gazan Exiles Stoke “Revolution” Against Hamas

13 June 2026 at 15:00

Gazans are preparing for public protests against Hamas on June 26th in what is being touted as a grassroots "revolution" against the terror group.

The post Gazan Exiles Stoke “Revolution” Against Hamas appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Touchscreen Macbook '100% Confirmed,' Says Reputable Leaker

By: BeauHD
12 June 2026 at 20:00
A leaker with a strong Apple rumor track record says a touchscreen MacBook is "100% confirmed. If true, it would mark a major reversal for Apple, which has long argued that the Mac is built for indirect input rather than reaching up to touch a vertical screen. MacRumors reports: Instant Digital has a good track record for Apple rumors and has provided some strikingly accurate information in the past, so it's always worth noting what they have to say about Apple's plans. The claim is also backed by several recent reports. [...] Touchscreen support is expected to be one of several major upgrades coming to Apple's next-generation high-end MacBook Pro models. Other rumored features include M6 Pro and M6 Max chips, an OLED display, a Dynamic Island (i.e., no notch), and a thinner design. The new laptops could also adopt MacBook Ultra branding. Notably, macOS 27 Golden Gate also introduces a more touch-friendly interface, since Apple's Sidecar feature now allows users to tap and interact with macOS interface elements using a finger on their iPad. Apple apparently is not going to advertise the new MacBook Pro/Ultra as a touch-first device like the iPad -- it will be "touch-friendly, not touch-first," according to [Bloomberg's Mark Gurman]. In that sense, Apple will let customers use touch and mouse gestures interchangeably for all functions. Further reading: Steve Jobs Was Wrong About Touchscreen Laptops (2012)

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The Social Reckoning trailer gives us our first look at Jeremy Strong as Zuck

10 June 2026 at 15:02
Actor Jeremy Strong as Muck Zuckerberg in The Social Reckoning.

Over 15 years after David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin's The Social Network premiered in theaters, Sony has released the first trailer for The Social Reckoning ahead of its theatrical release on October 9th. The follow-up takes place 17 years after the events portrayed in the original film and follows a young Facebook engineer who enlists the help of a Wall Street Journal reporter to expose the platform's secrets.

The film stars Jeremy Strong as a much older Mark Zuckerberg (doing a memorable impression of the Meta CEO's voice), Mikey Madison as Facebook engineer and whistleblower Frances Haugen, and Jeremy Allen White as WSJ reporter Jeff Horw …

Read the full story at The Verge.

The Physics of Creation PDF

23 April 2025 at 21:43
Here is a link to a PDF of my book ‘The Physics of Creation, The Creator’s Ultimate Design for Earth’. This is for paid Premium members only.

Facebook e Messenger com proteções reforçadas para adolescentes. Meta testa limites de conteúdo no Instagram

2 June 2026 at 17:52

O Facebook e o Messenger passam agora a contar com configurações semelhantes às do Instagram para as contas de adolescentes. Segundo a Meta, a funcionalidade de Conteúdo Limitado, para já exclusiva do Instagram, vai estar disponível nas duas plataformas ainda este ano.

The post Facebook e Messenger com proteções reforçadas para adolescentes. Meta testa limites de conteúdo no Instagram appeared first on Tek Notícias.

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